


Be held with you in my hands

by HamletsJamlets



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Small Town, Fae & Fairies, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Moth Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Tea
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:21:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25465426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HamletsJamlets/pseuds/HamletsJamlets
Summary: Martin was content with his little coffee shop life. He works at the only coffee shop in the whole town and over and he liked it that way. Seeing the same people every week and already knowing their order as soon as they entered. A few friends even. He doesn't notice much when a new person comes to the cafe with a simple order, but they keep coming back and staying for hours with many, many, books. And no one new has moved in for a while.
Relationships: Basira Hussain/Alice "Daisy" Tonner, Georgie Barker/Melanie King, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Sasha James/Tim Stoker
Comments: 18
Kudos: 57





	1. A meeting with earl gray

**Author's Note:**

> I needed to write something and writing a fanfic for my favourite thing feels easy enough. So, I'm gonna be basic and make a coffee shop au. + some fae jon.

Martin loved mornings. Any that were in the country and a good distance from London or whatever big city that was filled with noise were amazing. A nice cool breeze every here and there and near silence other than the wildly different birdsongs in a fancy cacophony of an orchestra and the few cars that would actually pass through as early as 5am.

It was a day like any. A workday at his simple coffee shop. Well, not his shop but, it really felt like everyone who worked theirs. The owner was a kind, lovely woman named Sasha. She would always have a smile on her face and was probably one of the most approachable people in the world. She seemed so graceful while she wiggled past tables and poured many a cup o' coffee from a simple black coffee to whatever confusing order a passing though tourist got. Tim was another employee at the Capital Cafe Crop - Sasha had to use alliteration in her cafe name. He was a silly guy. It was hard to find him not playfully flirting or being a prankster with those he knew. He was especially flirtatious and generally charismatic with Sasha. She loved to play along and get involved with his shenanigans.

Martin was only a little envious of how cool his friends were.

He arrived work at about 5.20am. Ten minutes before his work day started. Perfect. Sasha was obviously already there and Tim, he was often a few minutes late, so no surprise when he wasn't there.

'Martin!' Sasha called, carefully putting chairs on the ground.

'Hey Sash,' he smiled at her, 'what is this chair creation called?'

She giggled 'Ah, I don't recall, Tim probably named it something akin to 'the chair-inator 1000' knowing him' she started to laugh thinking about Tim. Martin couldn't help but snicker as well.

'Lovely to know my closest friends make fun of me when I'm late,' said a voice with such obvious fake hurt it only made the others laugh even harder.

'Only when you do your _amazing_ chair statues which, may I remind you, only makes it take longer to get the shop ready.' Sasha joked back.

They laughed together, and for a little moment it was like the coffee shop was alive as well as them.

  
\---

It was a few hours into the shift that Martin met a new fellow. It wasn't so uncommon but, something about this man was curious. His hair was a mess, like it had only been brushed with fingertips and only ever to get the hair out of his face, with streaks of grey even though he still looked quite young. He wore a coat that was worn more like a cloak then a coat and his clothes were all raggedy and were very worn, as if they were the only clothes he'd worn for a long while. The clothes themself were quite plain. a simple and plain button up with a red patterned woollen sweater vest and shorts that Martin were certain were khaki. His socks were thin and barely reached above his shoes, a brown pair of hiking boots that were absolutely covered in mud. Nothing actually strange, other than the coat he wore over. It was of odd design. The outside was brown with lines going down in slightly darker lines. The inside though, that was very intriguing. It had two shapes near the bottom of the coat that resembled... eyes? yes those were eyes. The inside was also a brown but there were many symmetrical splotches of different greens and blues every here and there in the coat. It drew the eye right in. It was-

Martin caught himself staring into the coat a bit too late.

'Yeah, I know it's odd, I just like it, a lot.' the stranger said to interrupt.

'Ah! Oh, uh, yeah sorry for staring. What would you like?' 

'Do you make any tea here?'

Martin was a little bit surprised 'Y'know this is a coffee shop right.' he chuckled at his own joke, but stopped and smiled when he saw the stranger's awkward face 'Yeah, we serve tea. Though we don't serve on the go tea, we have Jasmine, Peppermint, Earl Gray, Chamomile and a few berry tea's in the back, if you'd like me to check'

'No it's fine. Just a Earl Gray thanks, only a small splash of milk and 2 teaspoons of sugar please.' the strange man smiled as he recited his order for tea and Martin could do a small smile with him'

'And may I have your name?' the stranger immediately contorted his face into one of discomfort. Then back to the kind of neutral face he had worn earlier.

'You can call me Jon, no h.' 

'Alright Jon that should be ready in a few minutes and it will cost' Martin did a quick pause to remember the price for a mug of tea 'about 1 and a half quid' Martin tried to hide the small smile that slipped onto his face as took the odd man, Jon's, money off his hands and give him his change. Jon nodded and headed to a nearby table. He pulled out a book, out of- where did that book come from? it seemed to come out in the one moment he turned to put on the kettle and pull a mug towards him. Martin hadn't spotted a bag on the man's back nor any near where he sat. This man couldn't get much weirder. Martin did his best shrug it off as he went on to make his order. Early gray. Small splash of milk. Two teaspoons of sugar.

It was when he had just finished brewing and making the tea when Tim butted in. 

'Odd fellow over there huh?'

'Jon's probably just eccentric.' The shorter of the two men gave in rebuttal

'Why'd you get his name? You don't need to get names when you go to serve out drinks.'

Martin paused. Why did he ask for Jon's name for a tea order? 'Huh. Probably just habit,'

Martin scooched past Tim, who was frothing milk for Daisy, who had just come in for her and her girlfriend's drinks. A milkshake for Daisy and a hot chocolate for Basira. She did a small nod and grunt as he passed her with a smile. He headed over to Jon who barely was able to tear himself from the tome of a book he was consuming.

'Your tea' Martin smiled interrupting the petite man's intense reading session.

'Thank you very much...' Jon paused and looked to Martin.

'Martin,' he responded, brimming with joy.

Jon looked a small bit shocked before 'Martin... Thank you Martin.'


	2. Did some digging, still pretty confused

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Martin does some research and it gives interesting results

It was close to the end of Martin's first shift when he realised the leaf in the cash register. He was giving the change to one of his last customers when he saw it. Immediately he panicked. _Did someone somehow slip a leaf between some notes_?. No, Martin always checked the cash when he received more than one note. How could it get there? _How_ was the only question Martin could think of. Martin quickly went through the people he served that morning. He was going through the list of people he knew came on Tuesday mornings. Then he remembered the newcomer that was in the shop this morning. A thought came to his mind when he remembered the peculiar man he had met that morning, that reminded him of tales he only remembered reading in books of fairytales, and he realised his between shifts would be at the Library and not eating food.

\---

Martin didn't enjoy being suspicious of customers but there was a certain thought that came to him that he needed to work on. The Library, which was right by the town shire building was a great place to get knowledge or books in general. When he entered he was immediately greeted by the kind face of Georgie and her girlfriend and co-worker Melanie, more delayed also turned to face him.

Georgie was a knowledgeable woman, she knew at least something about anything. Melanie, she was a lot. She loved to take the piss but she always meant well, if you were already her friend. If you went to the library on any day it was almost definite you'd see them, Georgie often reading whatever book she was reading to Melanie, who would be lounging in an office chair and playing with a flat toy drum kit with one earplug in her ear and the other out so she could listen to Georgie. If they weren't there you would only be able to find Gerry or Basira, who, to say the least, weren't as talkative or fun as Georgie and Melanie.

'Martin! Here for more poetry books, we recently got Shaker, why don't you sing? by Maya Angelou back from the last borrower.' Georgie called to the anxious man.

'That sounds lovely Georgie but I am looking for knowledge on something a little different,'

'Ooh, Martin is feeling brave, eh?' Melanie snickered while lounging far back in her office chair, her drum toy left on the front desk.

Georgie cracker a small smile at her joke 'What kind of knowledge _are_ you looking for?'

'Um, well, uh, is there anything to do with- jeez this sounds dumb,'

'Martin, it's okay I won't judge.'

'I will,'

Georgie sent a small glare at her partner then stopped when she again remembered that she couldn't see it. She sighed and then turned back to the man, vaguely shaky with anxiety, and smiled.

'Well, um. Is there anything on faeries or magic?- Not like in fiction stories but like, um... real life?' he started to regret the question when Georgie's eyes went wide and her whole face read **shock**. 

'ah, If there is nothing then that is fine and-'

'No, no. It's just, not a common ask nor an ask I think I've ever had.' she chuckled a bit at her self

'Mostly because most people don't think they are real so they don't ask on _real ones_ ' Melanie cackled at the idea.

Martin blushed with embarrassment and looked away at the shelves. 'So, um, is there any books or...?'

'No, no. but there are a few books that are in the mythology and legends section that talk about the fae, but I do know a bit about it, if you feel I can send you on a good way to go on the library's computers.' Georgie smiled, glad to help.

'Thanks Georgie. I don't mind which way, whatever you'd think is easiest or quickest maybe?'

'I'd love an excuse not to reorganise the books for the umpteenth time today, so why don't I give the best lesson I can on the fae. Can I have like... 2 minutes to prepare?'

Martin smiled and nodded. He lightly bounced on his feet, excited.

\---

It was about 10 minutes into Georgie's fae infodump. Martin was taking in all the knowledge that Georgie was joyfully showing him gleefully. Though the whole time she always seemed to pause midway through her long tangents that actually got in depth to the fae. She had a small stack of books she was slowly piling into Martin's arms and as she finished going through the shelf for mythology and legends it was just a few centimetres off from a ruler's length.

'You probably won't be able to check these out since you still have a few out but I can keep them to the side for you if can get the other books you have out back by today.' she laughed softly as she guided him to the 3 computers that were by the side of the Library. Georgie grabbed the books from his arms and placed them by a computer, which she then turned on. 

'I can show you a few good ways to find good information on things you want in an easy way that really, should be more well known.' 

She was about to go on when Martin quickly butted in, 'Thanks Georgie but that should be enough, I would like to read those books and I probably can get my books back before the Library closes but I really should get back before my lunch break ends'

'But the coffee shop is only a 15 minute walk away.' she looked a little dejected from his need to go.

'Yes, but the after school rush starts in 10 and I wish to help with that.' Martin smiled a warm, kind smile at her. 'But thank you so much, I'll see you about an hour after my last shift ends to get those books

Melanie called to the two from the front desk 'So, you done looking at weird magic shit?' 

'You, Melanie King, are truly too cruel to me, your loving girlfriend of whom gives you hugs and kisses every night at your wish and helps you when you need it!' she put her hand over her heart as she walked towards Melanie, 'It's like you don't love me,' she dramatically fell over the desk and onto Melanie with an obviously fake hurt in her voice.

'You're right. I truly hate you truly and only date you for the sole purpose of stealing your identity and all of your knowledge from you oh, you have caught me in the act' she sarcastically responded to the woman, now lying half on her lap, half on the front desk, her dark, frizzy hair all over her lap.

Martin snorted then laughed at the little dramatic skit as he moved the books over to the front desk, 'Well, while you two have your dramatic moment of finding out each others true colours I need to get back to the little cafe at which I must work.' he smiled as he waved and bowed out the door.

'So, seems a certain faerie you know has not covered his ass.' Melanie interrupted the nice quiet moment with the first fully serious tone she used, probably all day.

'Seems so,' Georgie responded, a tone that was filled with worry.

\---

Just outside the Library while Martin was still quietly smiling to himself, the worst possible outcome happened. He ran into Elias. Elias was a horrible piece of work that worked on the council at the Shire. Most of the council members were nice and kind but Elias was an asshole. He had a kind look of an exterior but as soon as you actually talked to him for more than 5 minutes you could feel the pure smug _I'm better than you_ feeling he constantly gave of. Martin was very, very unlucky to accidentally run into him, making him drop the paperwork he was holding.

'Ah, oh-oh sorr-so-sorry, Elias, I di-didn-d-didn't me-m-mean t-to.' he barely stuttered out.

'Oh, it's fine Mr. Blackwood I'm sure you didn't mean to.' _jeez is he always that smug?_

Martin nodded as he awkwardly helped to grab the majority of the paperwork off the floor.

'Make sure it doesn't happen again.' Elias' stare bored into Martin, like he knew every single insecurity or fear he had.

'Y-ye-yes-y-yes s-sir' Martin immediately passed the paperwork to Elias and hastily walked off. He was shaky. How did a man with such a gangly mess limbs inspire such fear in him. Martin was taller than Elias by a whole damn foot and he was still scared of him.

Nevertheless, Martin needed to try to ignore Elias, and speed walk to the coffee shop so that Tim and Sasha weren't alone with a horde of teenagers asking for many drinks and pastries until there is nothing left.

\---

Martin took a deep breath as the tail end of the rush came in. He was tired of having the same 3 questions on repeat, though he did enjoy talking to the more enthusiastic and energetic children who would talk to him and talk to the barista as he worked. It was around this time that Sasha approached him and asked to talk to him out back, relying on Tim to be able to take care of the stragglers of the rush.

'Martin, I need to ask you something. You were doing till duty this morning, yes?' she was straight to it.

'Yes, I was doing till duty this morning.'

'Can you explain this and the 3 pound 50 missing?' She displayed the leaf that Martin had earlier spotted in the till.

'No, I cannot. I saw it just before my lunch break and I have a small idea of what it could be but I am still working it out' Martin sheepishly smiled, not even able to look Sasha in the eye.

'Martin, we're friends. Good friends. but, that doesn't mean you get a free pass for this. If you can't give me an explanation within, I'll give you the next few days, I'm taking it out of your pay.'

'Sorry, Sash. It's understandable' Martin fiddled with the hem of his sweater. 

She put her hand on his shoulder, 'Please do not let this happen again, I don't want to take more money than required out of your wage.' He nodded in response 'Ok, let's go back to help Tim, hopefully the rest of the shop is not on fire,' she laughed a little at her own joke before giving an awkward smile to Martin. 'You can come back out front when you need to,'

Martin stood quiet in the break room, taking deep breaths while listening to the clatter in the kitchen that was either Helen or Sasha working on refilling the pastry shelf. He breathed out then walked back to the front to help Tim out

'You good mate?' Tim asked as he casually wiggled over to Martin.

'Yeah, yeah fine. Just a silly little mistake that Sasha wanted to ask me about' Martin gave him a half hearted smile.

'Okay my dude, if you need to talk' Tim then spoke in an old, withered voice 'Ol' grampa Tim can give you an ear,' He smiled brightly at the sombre man. Martin chuckled and gave a much better, warm smile.

'Nah, it's fine. Thanks though Tim' 

\---

It was about 4pm when Martin was finally off shift. He said goodbye to Sasha and Helen, who was loading pastries and sandwiches into the pastry shelf while giving a huge smile, then Tim who was off to do whatever hiking trip he did every week.

\---

Martin rushed to his home, making his 20 minute walk a 13 minute walk. 

'Need to get the books back' he muttered to himself, his pace obviously much speedier than he was used to.

It was about 22 minutes to the Library from his house. _A little tiring but that's fine_.

Martin sped to the Library and quickly greeted Georgie and Melanie, who was absolutely focused on her drum set and didn't even hear the beep of the door when he entered. Martin was panting when he made it inside the cozy Library. Thankfully no Elias encounters to slow him down.

'Martin the Library closes in 2 hours you didn't need to rush.' Georgie took the small stack of poems and such from his arms and put them in the returns pile, which had gained a lot of books from Martin's last visit. Students filled out all the tables and bean bags that were nearby. 

'Yeah,' huff ' I know,' huff 'but my research cannot wait,' he took a few moments to try and catch his breath, but the plump man still was lightly puffing when he straightened up.

'Ok, whatever you say.' Georgie went to the spot on the bench where she had stacked all the books about the fae and faeries and moved them infront of Martin. 'Still want them?'

It was only when Georgie grabbed the books that Melanie realised that something was happening, 'Oh, hey Martin back for your _spooky_ magic books'

'Yes, yes I am going to be taking my _spooky_ magic books. Thank you Georgie.' He took out his wallet to pass over his Library card. Georgie's face tried to conceal a small smile.

'You borrow books so often I barely need this anymore, might as well just make a keybind for _Is Martin borrowing a book_?' Melanie snorted at the joke. 

'Jeez babe that was not a good one' but she still continued to laugh.

'mmkay, here is your books Mr. Blackwood, I'd offer you to sit at a table or beanbag but... most are in use' she looked to the shelves and the desks covered in smiling and whispering teens on laptops and reading stacks of books or with just a mess of paper around them, then looked back to Martin with a smile.

'Thanks you, again. See you soon!' He left with as best as a wave he could give. 

'See ya Martin,' 

'Bye Mr. Tea Man.' 

'Bye!' he called back one more time before the home and the night of studying that were to come. A study session sparked by the simple entrance of an odd, interesting man that now had Martin thinking, and thinking about a small thing that was only supported by the leaf is the cash register.

Was Jon a faerie?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am fully aware there are bits that feel wrong or punctuation and grammatical errors but shhh, sweet child I know of my mistakes and I do intend to make less.
> 
> But yeah hope y'all enjoyed


	3. Hiking trails and Fairy tales

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Martin goes for a hike gets a small scare, and the answer to his question

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic has possessed me and all I can do is write for the story and plan the next chapters when I'm meant to be sleeping. Enjoy!

It was streaks of sunlight that woke Martin. Martin’s hands scrambled for his phone, jittery. _Shit, shit, shit!_ He let out a small moan when he saw the time. He somehow slept through all three of his alarms, and slept in to 11.23pm.

‘Dammit Martin, you idiot!’ he muttered to himself as he flipped through his phone to text Sasha to apologise for being late to work. He was about to send the text when he remembered. It was Saturday… he put his phone back on the coffee table and slumped his face into the couch that he lay on.

‘Idiot, idiot, idiot,’ he hit his head repeatedly into the couch, little thumps were all his ears could hear then the casual ring of his ears and the bird calls that rang out every here and there. Martin turned his head and stopped shoving his forehead into the couch. His eyes moved over to the pile of books that he was reading so late into the night. He then looked to the floor and saw a book, open splayed on the floor, upon lifting the book he saw a large crease upon a page that was to the floor. He immediately tried to flatten it out by unfolding the crease, closing the book and putting it at the bottom of the stack.

‘Shit, damn it, frick, frick, shoot’ he quietly muttered as he fixed the book as best he could.

Martin sat up. He looked to the half full cup of tea, now cold on the coffee table. He sighed, picking up the mug and empty plate that was covered in crumbs and moved them to a kitchen bench for later cleaning.

Martin looked upon the barely lit living room that he had accidentally slept in. It was small but it had the essentials. A comfortable couch, a small coffee table and a TV. Small houseplants littered the shelves and floor of the room, some even flowering. Martin ambled to the curtains and pushed them to the edges of the window, streams of light now flowing into the room and a feeling of life seemingly came with it.

It was only when this life came to the room that Martin remembered fully why he had slept on the couch. Research. He shuffled back the coffee table and looked to the small book where he was taking notes that Martin though were useful last night.

‘Fae _are magical-_ Wow past Martin, _very_ useful’ His thumbs flipping through the book as he looked at the few pages of notes he had gotten from the multiple books he had. On the last page of the book he read out a note he didn’t remember

‘Go look for Jon forest. Ask Tim for tips on hiking. Think of what to do if I find Jon later.’ He quietly read to himself, wanting to fill the quiet air in his home. ‘Well I can do one of those now,’ Martin reached for his phone as while he sat back down on the couch. Changing from texts with Sasha to Tim.

> **Martin** : Hiya Tim. Could I ask you a small question
> 
> **Tim:** You just did.
> 
> **Martin:** I’m kind of interested in hiking got any tips :)
> 
> **Tim:** ooo Martos feeling adventurous.
> 
> Hiking aint too hard man I got you.
> 
> Just wear whatever exercise gear you may have and some good sneakers
> 
> Since you are probs a beginner choose an easy, well worn path to start with
> 
> Or idk unless you are a secret hike master and are using this as a test, just don’t be reckless on the path
> 
> PACK LIKE YOU ARE IN THE APOCALYPSE!! Water, food, spare clothes, anything you may need for an hour more than what you expect maybe more
> 
> **Martin:** thanks tim!
> 
> **Tim:** and Martman I love you but if you even think of littering I will find you and I will not hold back I-

Martin chuckled as he put down his phone.

‘Well, ignoring one of those rules for my purposes I think that was pretty good’

\---

Martin was just about to leave when he mentally double checked he had everything for the hike.

_Water, food, rain jacket, powerbank, spare socks… etc. yeah that’s good._

He lifted his bag onto his back with a heave, his worn sneakers making small squeaks as he walked down the short hallway to his door.

‘Bye house’ he called out to his empty home before walking out the door and closing it with a _click!_

\---

Small flicks of water flew of Martin's shoes, wet grass making way to his worn, caked in mud, sneakers. A cool breeze flew through the hillside, his strawberry blond fringe flicking back onto his mint coloured knitted beanie that was snug upon his head. The breeze also made the branches of the trees that surrounded him sway with a soft noise that made a song that could only be described as comforting when paired with the natural melody of birds and bugs that called the forest home.

The further he walked the steeper the green hill got, Martin was softly panting as the hill got harder and harder on his legs.

'Probably not going to find him anyway,' Martin remarked with a smile spreading upon his determined face. 'But, going the one way I've never seen Tim go for his hikes is the best idea I got.'

It was just as he reached what was close to the top of the hill that he spotted the odd man he knew as Jon.

He looked near exactly the same as the last time Martin saw him, down to the smallest detail, except for some obvious changes. The most obvious was, he had wings. The coat that he wore the day before had become large moth wings that spread from his back. That as well as two feather like antenna came out just after the edge of his hairline. Jon's grey streaked hair was loosely tied up by a small red ribbon. Martin stepped back into a bush as he saw the man, all his suspicions confirmed. The noise of the bush moving out of rhythm with the pushes of the wind startled the frail man. Jon whipped his head to look at Martin. Martin realised that in the whole time that Jon was at the coffee shop he had never looked Jon fully in his eyes. Martin got the idea that his eyes were brown but when Jon looked to him he only then got the idea of how his eyes looked.

Jon's eyes were a deep brown, you could barely tell the difference between with iris and his pupil, but those eyes drew him in, more than the coat did on the fateful day that Martin first met Jon. There seemed to be a soft glow to Jon's eyes. There didn't seems to be a certain colour to the glow, but it was obvious there was a glow to them, like there was just a light behind his eyes that made all the colours of his eyes show even in the dark . His dark eyes pulled Martin in, it was only the noise of wings flapping that made Martin realise he wasn't even looking into Jon's eyes any more.

'Jon- wait I-' but no words could properly form out of his mouth before Jon darted away.

Martin stood in the silence that he was left with, staring where the fae man once stood.

'well, what do I do now' he huffed as he settled onto a barely dry, moss covered, log and dropped his head into his hands.

\---

Martin was dead tired by the time he got home and collapsed onto his couch. He couldn't take his mind off of Jon's eyes. His coat was nothing in weirdly pulling compared to his eyes.

'Ugh!' he groaned before grabbing a nearby pillow and screaming into it. Martin tried to think of what to do but his mind just kept wandering to that, that _glow_ that was pulling his mind into what felt like a void of staring into nothing. He softly slapped himself and quickly paced into the kitchen to put the kettle on to boil.

'Just going to keep busy until I can do something else but think in my stupid house,' his hands went into autopilot as he slowly made himself a mug of jasmine. His hands tapped on the edge of the counter as he waited the few minutes it took for the tea to brew. He just needed a mug of tea in his hands and a smell to keep him grounded.

Rain started to pour as he stared absently at the trees that surrounded his home. Martin started to hum with the rain. A song that felt near natural to the man who hadn't a single sip of his tea yet it felt like that cup of tea was the only thing keeping him from spiralling. It was only when the tea went cold in his hands he realised he hadn't drunk any.

'Ah, might as well just nuke it.' martin put his mug in the microwave, giving the cup 30 seconds to warm up enough to drink again. He took a small sip.

'Not as good as when its fresh,'

Martin had a cup of jasmine in his hands and still no idea what to do. He turned back towards the couch where his day started. _Might as well return these since I got the information I needed_.

\---

'Georgie,' Martin let the stack of books slide into the returns section. 'no Melanie? She must've died for you to be here and not her,'

'I wasn't hoping to be here either but,' Gerry shrugged as he sat upside down on the office chair that only days before Melanie sat on

'Yeah, she is sick today. She should be good though, I'll probably just be hearing her complain about stubbing her toe, on her few trips out of bed, a lot when I get home,' Georgie gave a small smile at her own joke and then let out a small breath 'did you get the info you were looking for with the books?'

Martin immediately became a deer in the headlights 'Well, um, uh... kinda?' He came close to Georgie in a small, quiet voice 'Can I talk to you alone real quick.'

Georgie gained a small, worried face and nodded 'Yeah sure, anything.'

Martin guided Georgie a small distance from the front desk and the few people who used the library as a refuge from the still pounding rain.

'Ok, please just promise you will believe me'

'I will,'

'So, I was working at the coffee shop the other day, the same day I came in to get the book on the fae stuff, I met a new customer who I had never seen they were just a little odd and they stuck in my mind. Later in the day I saw a leaf in the register and I got the smallest spark of an idea, that the customer wasn't... human. I spent a few nights taking notes from the books and today I went for a hike in the hilly forest and um... I saw that customer, with wings and antenna, and weird glow-y eyes. I was about to talk to them when they flew away and then, yeah.'

Georgie paused for a few moments, just blinking. She then rubbed her face with her hands and answered. 'Would it surprise you if I knew who this fae person was, and am friends with them?'

Martin just paused before giving a response, as quiet as he could maintain, 'What.'


	4. Everything should be normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Helen dissapears and no one takes it well

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the gap between chapters I keep thinking about mistakes in past chapters but I'm just gonna deal with it and keep writing it, hope y'all enjoy!

_It was fucking frustrating that's what it was_

Martin thought that he could ignore the very weird info dump Georgie gave him on Saturday but nope! obviously not. Especially since the fae that started this absolute destruction of what Martin thought was normal just sat at a table with a little library's worth of pages on a table and a black coffee.

'A very loving stare you're giving, oh, what did you say his name was... Jon?' Tim's devious smile was spread wide on his face.

Martin moved the dagger's he was staring to Tim 'Ha ha,' the glare on Martin's face was so frustrated is seemed to barely work on his face, especially since he was almost always at least vaguely smiling.

'Jeez what did he do to become your favourite customer to your arch nemesis over a weekend?' upon being reminded of the weekend Martin's face soured just a little bit more, and Tim's gave of the little light of remembering something. 'Also! Were my hiking tips helpful?'

Martin looked out the window in the direction to the hill he had climbed 'Yeah, super,' his tone didn't agree with him though.

Tim's smile slipped of to give way to worry 'If something is up you can tell me,'

'It's ok Tim, just...' Martin attempted to articulate what he was feeling with his hands, giving up when Tim obviously couldn't speak Martin sign language 'its fine,' Martin shrugged Tim's worried hand of his shoulder as he brought the damned fae his drink.

_Better not turn into leaves again._

\---

Martin thought that maybe it would just be Monday that Jon came back and acted like Martin hadn't seen him with wings and antenna - that had somehow disappeared between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning - but nope! He came back every day, switching between a black coffee and that damn earl gray order that had stuck into Martin's brain. Every time that Jon came over he had huge books which Martin still couldn't tell where they came from. Every day he was just a little and little bit more annoyed. It got to the point that he asked Sasha if he could work with Helen in the back or he would have grabbed by his always ironed, perfectly white shirt and make him talk.

Helen was nice. Very, very nice. She was a tall, dark skinned woman with darker, curly hair that only just didn't touch her shoulders. She says she used to be a real estate agent in Brighton but she got bored and somehow just decided to up and move. Martin admired that about her, he had been stuck in this town since he was a baby. Helen was also a great baker as well as a great talker. Martin wouldn't be surprised if she could beat him in a debate while she frosted a 3 tiered cake.

'So Martin, why did you want to work in the back for the rest of the week?' Helen asked, interrupting Martin's space out, saving him from cutting his finger, only just.

'Ah, well...' _how do I describe this without sounding crazy,_ 'There's this one customer I just don't really like that has been coming for most of this week and they really tick me off,'

Helen gave him reassuring smile as best as she could while keeping her eyes on the electric beater. 'Ah, yeah, that sucks, stay for as long as you need,'

'Thanks Helen,' he responded with another smile, his face softly scrunching with glee.

'Well, Martin, if you want to be a little extra helpful I may need you to grab us another few extra egg cartons,' Helen paused the beater 'and maybe 5 more sticks of butter from back fridge,' Martin nodded as he quickly rushed to the back.

\---

Martin had just gotten all the things Helen needed out of the fridge when he noticed the tall, yellow, door that swirled in his periphery.

Martin jumped and screamed when he saw the door that was not meant to be there.

Helen rushed into the room, panic in her voice, Sasha just trailing behind her.

'Martin are you-' she looked in the direction that he stared 'What the hell!'

'That door was not there before,' was all all Sasha could smartly blurt out when she saw the new bright yellow door on the wall of the back storage room.

Then a loud creak forced silence over the room. Helen who most times looked confident, maybe tired on her worse days, her face read purely fear and hate. Sasha was just as solid as stone. Not a shake. Just a silent stare. Martin, the poor lad was already tired from the weekend and seeing a tall, screamingly yellow door appear in the back room slowly creak open didn't help. His legs were jelly and every bone in his body shook.

A tall figure leant out of the door. His form was hard to determine when you looked straight at him. A waterfall of yellow hair that matched the door cascaded from what Martin was pretty sure was his head. Helen broke the silence.

'Michael.' Helen said with all the distaste Martin and Sasha thought they ever heard out of her.

'Helen, it has been too long,' the stranger known as Michael's echoey, swirling voice responded. Then with a similar amount of distaste that Helen had earlier given he quickly stated 'You and me are to have a chat.' 

It was a quick motion that Martin nor Sasha couldn't react to in time. His body lunged and sweeped then pulled her into the door, she tried to dodge but Michael's wide grasp didn't miss her.

Sasha was about to run to the door to try and save her colleague and friend but the door, just as quickly as it came, left.

\---

Sasha decided they had to close the cafe. Nobody in the staff disagreed. Plenty of customers were disgruntled and frustrated, including Jon, but nobody was willing to argue with an _'emergency'_

\---

'She just disappeared?!' Tim was unable to grasp what happened, it didn't help that he wasn't there at all.

'Well, more like a weird tall person, apparently named Michael, pulled her in so fast we couldn't stop him.' Sasha corrected as dignified as she could be while saying such a crazy thing. Martin stayed quiet and fiddled with his thumbs. What could he say? _Hey guys I recently learnt that faeries and magic are real and they can explain the unexplained and could probably explain what the hell happened to our friend!_

Tim paced the room, running his fingers through his hair with dandruff covering his shoulders like his scalp was a fake snow machine. Sasha was braiding and unbraiding the same 3 strands of hair with a vaguely distant look in her eyes. Martin, he just looked down and fiddled with his thumbs.

Everyone was silently panicking.

Martin thought about how he had to speak up, he knew someone he could ask, he knew someone who was also magic, but he just kept on staring into the floor, his eyes bored into the tile of the kitchen like he was trying to get to the centre of the earth with just his eyes.

'I think I know who to ask,' Martin muttered, barely trying to be heard

Immediately Sasha and Tim paused and snapped their heads to him like meerkats.

A small silence occurred while Martin was trying to build himself up.

'Elaborate!' Tim exclaimed, not patient enough to wait for Martin to explain one of their friends being pulled into a horrid yellow door by a weird man with equally horrid yellow hair.

'We may need to go to the Library'

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> This was actually my first fanfic ever (believe it or not)  
> Hopefully it was good, and I do plan on finishing this with a nice little ending!


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